(Newser)
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Is Google trying to destroy America's public transportation system? It's possible, reports the Guardian, which obtained documents from Sidewalk Labs, a Google spinoff and "secretive subsidiary" of Alphabet. Columbus, Ohio, beat out more than 70 other cities for a chance to work with Sidewalk Labs and its Flow software, according to Columbus Business First. Sidewalk Labs and Flow would drastically change how people get around and park in the city. One of the most eye-catching parts of its plans, as laid out in the documents obtained by the Guardian, is redirecting public money that usually goes to subsidies for low-income residents to ride the bus to subsidies for them to ride Uber and other ride-sharing services.

The Verge calls this “essentially privatizing public travel under the aegis of Alphabet.” And Engadget points out Alphabet has an interest in steering people away from the bus and toward ride-sharing, as it owns part of Uber and is developing a self-driving car for taxi-like services. Other parts of Sidewalk Labs' plans include mapping public parking spaces and directing drivers to empty spots, requiring cities to take parking payments through its own software, and charging more for parking during in-demand times (something Engadget compares to Uber surge pricing). It also has plans for an Airbnb-like system for renting private parking spots to drivers. Experts warn all of this would make cities beholden to Alphabet for basic services and require large investments of public money. Sidewalk Labs says it just wants to help.

The buses in my city won't take you to any grocery store---you have to walk 2-5 blocks with all your packages... The bus doesn't go into the residential neighborhoods, where old people live, the disabled, the student population congregate...get off the bus and walk five more blocks. I walk four blocks from the bus stop to the social security office---in a very bad neighborhood. The bus system in my city seems designed to take tourists around, and get real cheap inner city labor into the fancy restaurants, stores etc...to work janitorial and cleaning jobs. As such, subsidized Uber would make a lot of sense for those with children, packages, or disabilities.

Skeeter 300 BlkOut

Jun 28, 2016 10:24 PM CDT

Of course they want in. The end goal is Google Idiot Pods driving people everywhere. Don't worry that they'll never be capable of making a computer driven car that is as good as a real person. They'll just push the government to limit where human controlled cars can operate since they can make 'smart' cars just smart enough if no one else is on the road. Reject these guys, they want to privatize public transportation and turn it into corporate welfare.